


Recount

by aaeiilnn, numberzero (aaeiilnn)



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Allison Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe, Bullying, Diego Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Gen, Good Sibling Klaus Hargreeves, Hargreeves Children Support Group, Klaus Hargreeves Deserves Better, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Number Five | The Boy Has Trust Issues, Obligatory Defend Klaus Fic, Obligatory Klaus and Vanya moment fic, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Panic Attacks, Past Child Abuse, Post-Season/Series 02, Protective Hargreeves Siblings, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Relationship Problems, Soft Vanya Hargreeves, Spot the Difference, Vanya Hargreeves Deserves Better, Vanya Hargreeves Gets a Hug, Vanya Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Vanya gets the training she deserves, because thats what locking kids up mean reggie, mentioned Ray/Allison, mentioned klaus/dave
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-16 15:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29334513
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaeiilnn/pseuds/aaeiilnn, https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaeiilnn/pseuds/numberzero
Summary: "Did you mess up again?" Luther demanded, looking at Five. "I thought the suitcase was supposed to make things easier!""But we're in the right time." Vanya muttered. "We saw the newspaper.""We are," Five groaned, running his hands through his face. "We are in the right time, but we must have changed the timeline somehow. Back when we were in the 60's.""But if we don't exist as Umbrella Academy in this timeline, how are we still here? As in existing?" Allison asked.Diego closed his eyes, breathing in. "I should have at least downloaded the orientation of the Commission somewhere. Maybe gotten a quick recap from Herbie.""Uh, guys?" Klaus said, and they all looked to see him staring and pointing. They followed his line of sight and found the woman from earlier sitting on the couch behind Diego.She's smiling back at Klaus' slightly terrified expression before she stood up and looked at all of them. "Well, I guess it's time to put you all in timeout now."
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves & Everyone, Klaus Hargreeves & Original Character(s), The Hargreeves Family, The Sparrow Academy Family, Vanya Hargreeves & Everyone, Vanya Hargreeves & Original Character(s)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 43





	1. 123457 + (0123456)

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Shield](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25601677) by [numberzero (aaeiilnn)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aaeiilnn/pseuds/numberzero). 



> ✓ THIS WAS ALREADY POSTED BEFRORE but I'm reediting everything into one work~  
> ✓ These are completely theories and based on the show so far (aka Season 2). [My analysis is on the og work, but I'm g to reply to comments]. This was also before casting news was released so,,, yeah definitely not canon  
> ✓ This is made because I think Reggie would have tried to change some things about how to handle the kids when he inevitably adopts them. Considering how he found them ill-mannered. BUT he wouldn't have let go of ALL of them because of the potential.  
> —> There is an OC, she is from my other story 'The Shield' and she's here because I LOVE her. And she is such a good friend to Klaus so everyone can shut up and love her too. (Please love her.) (I'm imagining her as Thai actress Kitty Chicha Amatayakul who played Nanno in The Girl From Nowhere bc shes apparently 26 and she's great)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Maybe just like how I don't exist in your time, you and your brother don't exist in ours. Maybe things are a lot different."

"Dad, who the hell are these assholes?" The members of the Umbrella Academy stared with mixed emotions at this person wearing a familiar face they've only seen a handful of times.

"Ben," Klaus whispered, unable to stop himself. He took a step forward but was blocked by Five and held back by Diego. 'Ben' looked at him with a tilted head and furrowed eyebrows. The irritation still present in his eyes, but it was a bit toned down.

"Why do they look like us?" Another voice asked, and the room's attention went to the five figures standing on the second floor. The one who spoke also had a familiar face that made Vanya gasp at the sight. Her own face was staring down at her, but it looked different. This other-Vanya is now leaning on the railings, making her face visible, narrowing her eyes at the intruders, with pure confidence radiating from her.

The other four followed to show themselves, and it's just plain weird. Everyone looked incredibly familiar, but just a bit more proper. Allison's face shows up, Klaus' lookalike is standing beside her. One of them looks weirdly like Five but only if he physically aged to be the 30-year old he was meant to be. There was another girl that stood at the sides, looking incredibly amused at the situation, but she wasn't someone they recognized. All of them were wearing the deep red blazer Ben's lookalike was wearing.

Sir Reginald Hargreeves cleared his throat and the Umbrella Academy members turned to look at him. So did the 'Sparrow Academy', as they were apparently named. He looked straight at 'Ben'. "Gather everyone to the study. I will need to brief you on the situation."

"Zero," he started, and the others turned to see the unfamiliar one stand more attentively. (' _Zero?_ ' Diego mouthed to Allison, who he exchanged looks with. But all of them were just confused.) "Put our unwelcomed visitors on a timeout and watch over them. You know what to do."

She gave an affirmative hum with a smile as she skipped ( _skipped_? Klaus felt astounded as he watched this girl skip across the floor with Reginald Hargreeves not even glaring in displeasure) to the stairs and down. The other four disappeared to the direction where they knew the study to be.

As Reginald and 'Ben' started to move out as well, Luther tried to get the older one's attention.

"Dad, can't you at least let us know what's going on? I mean-"

"Do _not_ call me that." Reginald Hargreeves turned to look at him with a cold expression. "I have no memory of adopting you, much less raising you." Allison placed a hand on Luther's arm upon seeing him looking like he just got slapped. "You will wait here and follow as Zero says, or you won't get any answer that you might be looking for."

The sound of his shoes walking away on the wooden floor seemed to echo in the silence that he left. The siblings looked at one another in part fear and confusion.

"Did you mess up _again_?" Luther demanded, looking at Five. "I thought the suitcase was supposed to make things easier!"

"But we're in the right time." Vanya muttered, defending Five weakly as the confusion was apparent in her tone. "We saw the newspaper."

"We _are_ ," Five groaned, running his hands through his face. "We are in the right time, but we must have changed the timeline somehow. Back when we were in the 60's."

"But if we don't exist as Umbrella Academy in this timeline, how are we still here? As in existing?" Allison asked.

Diego closed his eyes, breathing in. "I should have at least downloaded the orientation of the Commission somewhere. Maybe gotten a quick recap from Herbie."

"Uh, guys?" Klaus said, and they all looked to see him staring and pointing. They followed his line of sight and found the woman from earlier sitting on the couch behind Diego.

Diego stepped back in surprise. He definitely wasn't the only one who had forgotten about one of the other Academy's members being sent to them, but as one of the few members who kept up his own training on his own time, no one should have been able to sneak up that close to him.

The woman looked young for someone who is supposed to be thirty. She has straight cut bangs and dark, shoulder-length hair that looked red when the light hit it in a certain way. She's smiling back at Klaus' slightly terrified expression before she stood up and looked at all of them. "Well, I guess it's time to put you all in timeout now."

"Like hell, you're doing anything to us." Diego snarled and quickly sent a blade of his flying. But as soon as the blade was just a few inches from her skin, she caught it by the handle. (Which, in Diego's opinion, is far more impressive than catching it by the blade since it's more risky and more well-timed. Though he wouldn't be saying it out loud now and definitely not in front of _her._ )

She shook her head and tsked in a patronizing way, smiling at Diego as she slowly walked forward. The others were frozen at the sight of her stopping his blade. "See? Very naughty and very rude." She had a hint of an English accent, but it was faint. "This is why you deserve a timeout." She whispered before swiftly moving her hand to tap two fingers on his forehead.

A dark violet grow seemed to rush from the point of contact through the rest of his body. It felt cold and heavy, Diego thinks, like he had just gone through a cold, raging waterfall. The others were jolted into action at the color, most of them rushing to Diego to assess what damage might have been caused, but Luther went to grab the girl by her shoulder. Before he could even demand an explanation, she had caught his wrist and sent a punch to his face. It shouldn't have hurt because durability was his thing, but it _did_ , albeit slightly, and it surprised him enough to make him fall to the ground.

Allison moved from Diego to Luther, who waved off her concerns and stared confusingly at the girl. "Do you think it's like Diego's girlfriend?" He whispered quickly to her, but she just shrugged helplessly. None of them knew what was going on, but they were going to find out.

The woman looked disappointed. "So much muscle on that body of yours and that one punch puts you down? Honestly, what a waste." She took advantage of their surprise and went to tap both Luther and Allison on the ground at their foreheads. Then she turned to the others as a violet glow passed over the two.

Five was the first to move and he jumped to appear behind her, but instead showed up a few more inches further. He went out of balance, yet was able to catch himself from falling. But in his moment of confusion (how on earth did he not end up where he was supposed to?), the girl had walked up to him and held his wrist, the same violet spreading throughout him from there. He felt cold. "Where do you think you're going?" The tone was calm and relaxed, as if they hadn't just tried to attack her.

It's obvious Five was trying to jump again, but there wasn't even a hint of blue around his hands, despite not feeling tired at all. He looked up and met her dark brown, almost black, eyes watching him with thinly-veiled amusement. "What the hell did you do?"

"I'm not even attacking you guys." The woman whined, even going as far as stomping her foot once. The childish reaction was a plus one to the things surprising them about her. "Can't you all just sit down and wait patiently?"

She dragged Five to the couch and made him sit, then turned to the others and gestured to the empty spots pointedly. They exchanged hesitant looks but, not seeing any other choice, they went and followed.

Vanya had only decided to take a seat despite wanting to help and attack because of past experience. If this girl can do what Lila did just a couple of hours ago, then she can't give her the chance to mirror her powers. When the woman moved to stand in front of her and reached out, she was mumbling and rolling her eyes. "Honestly, you're all acting like a bunch of children. It's just a fucking timeout, calm the _fuck_ down."

"What does it do?" Vanya interjected before her fingers touched her skin. "What does the timeout mean?"

The woman paused at her words and blinked before continuing on and tapping Vanya's forehead anyway, letting the cold violet wash over her. She stepped back and looked at them all with a frown. "Why do you not know what a timeout is?"

"Like a punishment for kids?" Allison asked, already sure that it's not the answer, but still trying to make sense of the situation. And this feels like a punishment anyway.

She snorted at Allison's guess. "Yeah. You kids."

"Seriously." Vanya said, getting her attention again. "I don't know what you're assuming, but we don't know what you're doing to us. We don't even know who you are."

This caused more confusion to be visible on her face. "Oh. I'm Number Zero? Rita? Do I not exist in yours?"

"We don't have a 'Zero' in our academy." Luther explained. "We start with me, Number One."

"Well, I'm Zero here, Z for short and Rita when outside." She seemed kinder now, less tricky to deal with as she introduced herself. "And a timeout means I block your powers for a while."

This caused everyone to be a bit tense. Not so subtly, everyone tried and failed to reach within themselves to access the powers they've had since birth. Everyone except Klaus who was just watching her curiously. "You can do that?"

She hummed. "Can no one in your team do that?"

"No," he glanced at Allison, remembering what happened with Vanya. "Well, not exactly."

Zero pursed her lips and walked to stand in front of where he sat She showed her hands with palms up then waited patiently for him to make the next move. Klaus placed his hands on hers, as if in a trance, and he felt a different kind of cold from what he was used to wash over him as she squeezed his hands gently. "Training must have been hard for you, then."

Klaus' eyes snapped open, not even realizing he had closed them, as she went and lightly patted the top of his head. She then moved away towards Vanya, to whom she shot an apologetic smile and another pat on the head while mumbling 'you too'.

"So, it's just Numbers One through Six for you all, huh?" She asked as she sat on top of the table, facing them.

"Seven." Allison corrected. "Our Six is gone. Died."

"He looks exactly like your brother just now." Klaus breathed out, still feeling slightly overwhelmed. "Technically, I'm the only one who saw him completely since he was a kid, but we've all seen him once as an adult, I think. They look exactly alike! Without the scar, but still!"

She glanced at the corridor her team had disappeared into and raised an eyebrow. "You mean Ben? Well, fun fact: He's our Number One."

"What?" Luther blinked. "I'm Number One, though."

"Sure." Zero shrugged. "But maybe just like how I don't exist in your time, you and your brother," she gestured to Diego, "don't exist in ours. Maybe things are a lot different."

Five narrowed his eyes, inspecting her closely. "You're taking this quite well. Some people show up looking exactly like your siblings, and you just welcome them?"

She met his eyes fearlessly for a couple of seconds before chuckling. "You're all in timeout and, if I wanted to, you or your weapons won't be able to touch me at all. Besides, I've got Abhijat with me." She nodded to the side where they saw a dark cube with a green glow floating. (Diego mentally noted it felt menacing, but that's weird cause it's just a box? Also, how are all these people and things managing to sneak up on them unnoticed?)

"Abhi-what is that?" Klaus exclaimed with raised eyebrows, asking the question everyone had on their mind.

"So you don't have him too, huh?" Number Zero's eyes stayed on the box for a couple of seconds before going back to them with an unreadable expression. "The point is, Abhijat can help me. You're no threat. Now," she clapped her hands together as if calling their attention, "I, for one, would like to know your numbers and powers to play a game of spot the difference between my world and yours."

"You're Number One." She looked at Luther with nothing but curiosity in her eyes. "Pretty big physique you got there, is that your power?"

"No," Luther answered after exchanging looks with his siblings. "This came after. My power is super strength."

A beat of silence. "That's it?"

"Well, yes."

"And you're Number... One?"

"Yes."

"Huh. Okay then." She looked unconvinced, but shrugged it off before turning to the rest. "Who's Number Two?"

"My name's Diego." He reluctantly replied after a moment of silence where he just felt compelled to just say something. "Dad called it trajectory curving. Means when I throw something, I can move it across the air."

"Fun! But is that it?" Zero double-checked after another moment of silence. "No more? Number Two?"

"Yes. And yes." Diego nodded surely, not willing to talk more and not seeing the reason for her looking incredulous.

"And Number Three?" Something in Number Zero's tone changed, but they can't get an exact read on her yet as they barely know her. Five's closest guess is that she sounds unsure.

Allison sat up, determined. "That would be me. Allison Hargreeves. I can Rumor people to do what I want them to do." She tilted her head. "And _I heard a rumor_ , you'll let us go."

Zero stayed silent for a second before letting out a laugh and rolling her eyes. "Did you not hear me say I put you on timeout and blocked your powers? Who's Number Four?" She asked, ignoring Allison's narrowed eyes.

Klaus raised his hand, displaying the Hello tattoo on his palm. "Hello, I'm Klaus." He started, taking on his support group voice. "I see dead people."

She seemed to soften at Klaus' voice and sighed. "You do, do you? Do you see your brother?"

"No, he's..." He smiled sadly and Vanya took his hand in support. "He's really gone into the light, the sweet bastard."

"Hmm, I see." She moved on to the next. "And Number Five?"

"Me," Five called out, the tone in his voice heavily implying he doesn't trust her. "I'm Number Five."

"Name?"

"Five."

She smiled. "Alright. Spatial jumps and time travel, yes? You displayed it earlier and talked about it amongst yourselves, so I'm assuming."

Five rolled his eyes but didn't bother responding. She took this as a sign she was correct and moved on. "You said Number Six is dead, and he looked like Number One. You also called him Ben earlier," she nodded to Klaus. "What did he do?"

"He has these monsters," Klaus answered when no one else found that they could really explain. "Under his skin? Inside of him? And he just summons them. Usually, it's the tentacles one." He nodded, somewhat satisfied with his own explanation.

Zero nodded and turned to Vanya. "That makes you Number Seven."

"Vanya," she corrected automatically. "I... Well, I'm not exactly sure what to call what I do? I didn't train or whatever like the rest."

Zero's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Did you join your academy late?"

Vanya shook her head. "I was adopted same time as everyone else. It's a long story, but I didn't even know I had powers until, uhh, does the word ' _recently_ ' still apply?" Klaus shrugged helplessly and Five kind of just nodded and waved his hand so she stuck with that. "It's just bright lights and sound waves, I think?

"Interesting." Zero nodded and kept silent, swinging her legs that failed to reach the floor because of both the tall height of the table and her short height. She yawned a couple of seconds into the silence.

" _Well?_ " Five prompted, feeling impatient and sounding it.

"Well, what?" She smiled innocently at him.

"What's the result of the spot the difference game here?" He demanded. "We gave you our story. Give us yours."

She laughed (the _audacity_ ) and continued smiling at Five. "We didn't have that kind of deal."

The automatic reaction Five had was to jump through space and land on the table behind her, maybe choke her to near death for her damn attitude that he didn't have time for. Unfortunately, his hands still refuse to glow blue and the lack of his powers stopped him from doing so. She didn't take away his ability to walk though, so he still stood up and lunged at her, only to hit his head at some invisible barrier and fall to the ground.

"Your temper's probably brought you a lot of problems, huh?" Zero taunted from her spot as she looked down at him. There was a muffled sound of somewhat agreement behind him that Five didn't bother to check, but he can bet it was either Diego or Klaus.

(It was Luther.)

"Fine," she sighed playfully, as if they had been whining like five-year olds for three hours and she was the babysitter who was going to entertain them with ice cream. "I'm Number Zero or Z for short, as I said earlier. My birth name is Rita, as I also said earlier. Rita Lewis."

"'Lewis'?" Luther repeated. The number-based name made sense, but the different last name threw him off. "Why not 'Hargreeves'?"

"I wasn't exactly adopted the same way as the rest of you were, I'm assuming." She hummed, thinking of what to say next. "I was about ten when I was added into the Sparrow Academy because both of my parents died, and my Father and Dad, a.k.a Sir Reginald, were somehow acquainted. I think news reached Dad that I was one of those special kids born on that special day so he took me in instead of having me fall into some orphanage."

"I'm something like a barrier? A dam? An amplifier?" She went through words, testing them out. "You know how in radios there's the volume knob that you twist to make the sound as loud as possible or just completely mute it? That." She nodded. "I can either block your powers or make it stronger for a certain amount of time. It can work like a physical shield thing too, like what just happened." She gestured to the spot where Five had fallen.

"Next is Number One. Given his number, he also has the leadership role."

"Why not you?" Diego asked. "Zero comes before One, after all."

"Yes, please." A new voice joined in. They turned to see other-Ben walking through the corridor. His eyes scanned the team on the couch, but landed on Zero in the end. "Take the leadership position as you were always meant to." It was said in such a monotone voice, and they didn't know this Ben enough to know whether he was joking or not.

"And take away your leadership privileges? Like being able to leave the briefing a bit earlier to check up on other members?" Zero replied with a roll of her eyes as she moved to give other-Ben space to sit beside her. "I'm not cruel, Benny."

(The nickname caused Klaus to flinch internally. It was all too familiar and all too _soon._ )

He leaned on the table instead of sitting on it and faced the others. "Are you supposed to be talking to the hostages?" The term made the team tense up again (they didn't know when they began to loosen up), but Zero quickly batted at his shoulder.

"They're _unwelcomed visitors_ , like Dad said." She corrected, her tone joking. "At most, they're intruders, yes? And what would you rather me do? Making them sit in silence means I have to endure that too and it's so _boring_. Guess what I learned though: Your doppelganger's name is Ben too, and he's dead!"

Other-Ben blinked. "Huh."

"And you were Number Six instead."

"Wow, really?" Expressionless.

Zero watched the team carefully before leaning to Ben and stage-whispering. "I think their dad ranked it the opposite way in terms of powers. Don't tell them though, I don't think they know." It could be seen from their faces that they find this entire situation incredibly amusing, but the members of the Umbrella Academy were still mostly confused. Luther isn't sure if he should be offended.

"Anyway," she spoke loudly again, "this is Number One, Ben, like your Ben. Around the same powers as yours too. Say hi." But she looked at them instead of other-Ben so it felt like they were the ones she was encouraging to greet the other. Klaus gave a tiny wave of a hand in the silence and it seemed to be enough for Zero to move on.

"He's the leader because he was already the chosen leader before I even joined. And what was the point of tipping the balance. I don't even go on missions."

"Why not?" Five asked.

She shrugged. "I didn't want to."

Klaus recalled the times he didn't feel like joining missions and voiced it out in disbelief. "You expect us to believe you told Reginald Hargreeves 'no' and he just _accepted_ it?"

A smug smile. "He didn't really have a choice. He tried forcing me into it but I'd just not do anything, or he'll have me locked up for punishment but I'd mess with the trainings by shutting down or extremely amplifying their powers, making it hard to do proper tests. He tried punishing the others for my mistakes, but I learned other ways to shield too. I got a grasp of my powers really quickly out of pure spite."

"Took three years for him to accept she didn't want to do missions and just made her the second supervisor for training." Another voice chimed in accompanied by soft footsteps. The other four walked in and strategically placed themselves around the room. Other-Vanya led this group and was obviously the one who spoke. Only now do the Umbrella Academy members notice that there is a streak of white across her hair that was tied back.

"And with that," Zero slipped off the table, "I also became the group therapist and was also sent to med school. Dad thought if he couldn't torture me with training, he'd make me a scientist like him and my Father. Collecting doctorates like it's my only purpose."

"Chatting with the prisoners?" Allison's lookalike asked. She had a short haircut that their Allison would never have wanted, and it was neatly braided back.

Zero shot her a playful glare. " _Unwelcomed visitors_."

"Intruders." Other-Allison allowed with a smile. "And how do we treat intruders?"

Zero blinked and exchanged a look with other-Klaus, who Klaus was not able to look away from since he entered. "Well, no one's ever really bothered to try it, so there's no... what's the word?"

"Precedent." Other-Ben answered. Zero snapped her fingers and repeated the word.

It was extremely unnerving to watch these people, most who have familiar faces and familiar voices, work together in harmony. There was no tension anywhere and they looked absolutely comfortable around each other, safe and content in this place they call home. _Because they successfully made this damned place a home, didn't they?_ Diego thought bitterly.

"Hold on, I'm not yet done with introductions." Zero turned to face them again. "Let's go through this with speed, hmm? Keep the questions at the end, like civilized people?"

"This is our Number Two, our Vanya, as Mom has named her." She gestured to other-Vanya who just raised an eyebrow at them, looking unbothered by everything. Diego instinctively looked around to see if Mom would appear, but she didn't and the glare of one of the unfamiliar faces stopped him from asking. "She also has the 'light and sound waves' thing you mentioned, but definitely better trained than you."

"We have the same Number Three, the same Allison, the same powers." She moved on to other-Allison. " _Rumoring_." She sent a knowing look to her that Five thinks they weren't supposed to notice, which means they're probably hiding something.

She looked around for a while before pausing as if she just remembered something. "Right, our Number Four had a long day of training yesterday. She's not yet here."

"Dad sent Pogo to get her. She'll be down soon." The only other unfamiliar face said. He had a clean haircut and stood straight. There was this aura of 'I know a lot' from him that the team could already guess exactly who this is. Zero moved towards him.

"We also have the same Five. He even prefers to stick to the number, despite being named Daniel when he was ten." She poked him on the shoulder which he just rolled his eyes at. "Ours looks older, but," she looked at the young-looking Five sitting on the couch, "I remember him looking exactly like you when he was younger. Same kind of pretentiousness too." She avoided the hand threatened to hit the back of her head with a laugh.

Klaus watched as she moved on to other-Klaus. "Your Number Four is our Number Six. Same name, similar enough powers." He's wearing dark, loose clothes under the blazer with tears on it, and had the short curly hairstyle that Klaus remembered having before all the time travelling. Klaus is sure there's this faint smell of alcohol coming from other-Klaus and he could almost conclude that they aren't all that different. But this other-Klaus looks more at ease, and when Zero moved to tap lightly at his hand, he relaxed even more. Klaus thinks that this would have been him at his best if the training went well, and he knows that the main difference is that other-Klaus had a Zero, a Rita, and _damn_ if that didn't make him feel even a bit bitter.

As soon as the introductions finished, there was the sound of scrambling from the hallway where the rooms were and another familiar face appeared.

"Lila?" Diego asked, not expecting to see her. He almost went to ( _tackle? kiss? high-five?_ ) her, but other-Vanya noticed him and kept a firm hand on his shoulder to keep him sitting.

'Lila' froze at the sight in front of her. It was obvious that she had just woken up and rushed to get ready. There was a comb in her hand and she was hopping on one foot to adjust her shoe, but she looked exactly like the Lila that they met in the 1960s.

"Am I seeing double?" Even her accent remained the same. "There's _two_ copies of some of you, did you know that?"

"Did Pogo not tell you anything?"

"He might've." Lila nodded slowly as she moved to join them. "But I also might've been half-asleep still." She looked at Zero, then other-Ben, and there seemed to be an entire silent conversation happening between them until they nodded and 'Lila' looked at them with a blank expression.

"I'm Number Four, you could call me Lila." She met Diego's eyes. "Do you know me?"

"We're acquainted, yes." Five answered instead, the suspicion was back in his eyes. "What are you doing here?" Her confusion at his question was clear, but Five wouldn't trust it. The Handler would have trained her only daughter to be the best actress if it was possible.

"How do you know her?" Zero interrupted with a sharp tone, stepping between them and blocking Five's sight of 'Lila'. "You said there were only seven of you. Didn't mention her."

"We didn't lie." Luther quickly said, making sure they weren't suspected of wrong things. "We didn't. We were really only seven, but we kind of fought against her. She used our powers against us."

"She was nice at the end, though." Diego added, so as to not give them any ideas. "But she just left without a word, so it's weird she's suddenly here."

"A _villain_?" Zero gasped dramatically, her slightly childish manners returning and making her siblings fight down a smile. (Except other-Klaus who willingly played along and gasped with her.) "Knew you had a mean streak to you, Four."

Lila, whether she was the Lila they knew or other-Lila, gave a wicked smile. "I'm gonna burn this whole fucking place to the ground."

"I hope you don't, Lila. I just finished vacuuming this morning." Mom entered with a serving cart with plates of cookies and sandwiches, and glasses and mugs of different kinds of drinks. "Your father is going to take a little longer than usual. I thought it's just right for me to provide a little food and drinks. We rarely have people over."

"Intruders." Other-Ben corrected softly in a sing-song voice before reaching out to grab a cookie for himself. Mom smiled at each of them and encouraged them to take some food, before leaving the way she came.

Zero gestured for them to take whatever fits their taste from the cart other-Mom had left behind. Klaus didn't hesitate, and Diego was never able to resist the freshly baked cookies their mom made (and this looked and smelled _exactly_ the same). Luther reached out for one after seeing Diego enjoy a piece, and Allison followed hesitantly after.

Vanya tried to hold herself back, but after not having eaten for what feels like days, she gave in to take something and was pleasantly surprised to see it was a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich. She met Five's eyes at her discovery and found he was looking back at her. His eyes softened, but he refused to take one despite feeling the hunger more strongly.

About ten minutes of awkward silence passed. The members of the Sparrow Academy would mutter things to each other, sometimes addressing the green box at the side, while those of the Umbrella Academy would only exchange looks.

Five gave in to take a cup of black coffee after seeing no effect on his siblings, and the sharp pain of hunger after days of not eating was just not worth it.

More minutes pass, but it feels like it's been hours. Like time was slowing down.

"Hmm." Klaus furrowed his eyebrows, as if deep in thought. The Sparrow Academy members eerily look to his direction at the same time, as if waiting. " _Interesting_ ," he commented, smacking his lips.

"W-What's wrong?" Diego asked, not realizing his stutter. It didn't escape Allison and Five's attention as they began to watch him suspiciously.

Klaus was staring into the cup of coffee he was drinking, then he looked at Zero before turning to his siblings. "We've definitely just been drugged."

His words cause the rest of his team to jump to their feet, but other-Allison was already standing in front of them. " _I heard a rumor_ you're feeling very tired and you want to go to sleep. Why don't you all take a seat?"

Luther yawned as he fell back down on the couch with his siblings. "What...What do you--"

"You've travelled so far. You all deserve a nap, don't you think?" Other-Vanya smiled as she moved to stand beside Allison.

"Wait till I I get my fucking hands on you all." Five glared and had interrupted himself with a yawn. He tried throwing a punch but the exhaustion only caused him to fall to the ground, losing balance.

"Ooh," Other-Five mocked, standing over his body with his siblings. "Somebody's gonna throw their little hands around."

_I'm the top assassin of the goddamned Commission_ , Five wanted to say, but his eyes were fluttering closed.

Other-Klaus watched amusedly as they tried to fight off the sleep brought by the rumor and the drugs. "Oh come on, just give in. I'm betting these two have the highest tolerance but look at them." He gestured to Vanya and Klaus who leaned against each other and were still compared to their siblings. Their eyes were half-closed, though their siblings couldn't muster enough energy to check.

Zero stepped forward to pat the top of Vanya and Klaus's heads again, a soft smile on her face. All the attention they could have, which, admittedly, wasn't a lot, were immediately on her. "Thanks for all the intel. I learned _so_ much today."

Other-Ben stood in the middle of his siblings, arms crossed in that stupid red blazer. "Goodnight, sweet dreams." He grinned at them, like the asshole he was proving to be.

The last thing that those of the Umbrella Academy would remember is the familiar, yet slightly different, faces watching them and the almost maniacal laughter of Zero as she walked to the direction of Sir Reginald Hargreeves' study.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed~


	2. 47

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Do not defend it." Klaus interrupted, his tone cold and determined. "Vanya, you did not deserve that."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Obligatory 'Apology to Vanya' fic!! Tho it is just Klaus doing it.  
> \- Very short compared to the others honestly...

Vanya woke abruptly. Her eyes were wide open and there's a scream caught in her throat. The cold sweat across her forehead and her back felt icky and disgusting. If it was possible, she would remove the thin blanket draped around her and raise the room temperature at the same time. Maybe it's a request to ask for in the morning.

It's been around three days, maybe four, since they've landed in this mess of an alternate timeline where they have lookalikes, other selves, doppelgangers, who seemed to be better purely because of a good childhood. They were drugged (which made her siblings who went through training a bit embarrassed to admit, but, hey, some of them haven't eaten for days. It's understandable in her eyes.) and brought to this room in the basement. 

Well, 'room' was a very kind word for the prison that they were in.

The moment they all started to come to their senses, Vanya immediately recognized the place. With all six of them inside, the room was more cramped and the black spikes running across the walls looked bigger. There was no mistaking it though — this was where she had been locked up when she was younger and after the incident with Allison before the first apocalypse. (Luther, she noticed, quickly recognized it too and looked too ashamed to even meet her eye for a couple of hours after his realization.) 

She hadn't realized she was shaking until Allison had wrapped her in a hug and was whispering all sorts of comforting nonsense in her ear to help her calm down. Somewhere deep inside her, she felt her powers stirring, wanting to escape and tear this place down again, but it was blocked.

_Stupid timeout_. (Or was it helpful and convenient to stop another apocalypse?)

She sat up slowly, careful not to bother her siblings who were sleeping. Allison was beside her, next to Luther who had finally been able to wrestle some sense down into Five to go to sleep with the help of Diego. Their youngest (or oldest, depending on how you look at it) had spent every second they've been there just pacing and trying to get out. But even his powers were blocked.

The glass on the door (which Luther and Diego have tried and tried and _tried_ to break) was a bit foggy, but had no scratches. At nights, it was their only source of light, no matter how small, because the lights within the room would be turned off. Vanya stared at the door, through the glass, and at the dim light from the hallway.

"Can't sleep?" A voice asked, and she turned to see Klaus, who somehow found a way to slot himself between the spikes, using his pillow and blanket to lean on it without getting pierced. (They were each given blankets and pillows of their own. And extra large size for Luther, even. 'The least we could do,' Zero had said with a shrug and a smile before locking the door once more.) She couldn't imagine how it could be comfortable, but he seemed fine, so they all just let him be. "Nightmares?"

She nodded, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before looking back at him. "The room takes me back. What about you?" 

"One of us should stay awake." It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the complete truth either. She noted the haunted look in his eyes as he kept them trained on the door. It seems like she's not the only one who finds comfort from the bit of light shining through. "I should have tried harder to get you out, hmm?"

Vanya had been lost in her thoughts again, she barely heard his words. She had half a mind to pretend she didn't know what he meant, but his inability to even look at her stopped her. She knew what he meant and sighed. The bittersweet, partly hazy, memory of Diego, Klaus, and Allison trying to speak up for her, but ultimately giving up wasn't one she liked to recall.

"No, I… I understand why—"

"Do _not_ defend it." Klaus interrupted, his tone cold and determined. "Vanya, you did not deserve that."

"Technically, I _did_ cause the apocalypse—"

"We _pushed_ you to that. If we hadn't left you behind after all that…" He ran a hand through his hair, shaking his head. "Ben's ranted about it several times when he was mad at me while we were stuck in the '60s."

She kept silent, not knowing what to say.

"He locked me up too, you know? That heartless son of a bitch." Klaus sighed before finally looking at her. "Dad, I mean. Not Ben. Not Luther." He clarified. "It was for my special training. He'd throw me in a mausoleum to make friends with the ghosties who did not exactly want to be friends nor have the best manners, if you must know."

"That's nice," Vanya said, meeting his eyes. "Maybe we could start a support group."

Klaus let out a laugh, quiet enough to not wake the others but loud enough to make Diego twitch in his sleep. "Taking care of our mental health? The old man must have cut his own finger in his barbershop in hell."

"Barbershop?"

"Oh, did I not tell you?" He tilted his head, a half-meant smile on his lips. "I did manage, at some point, to visit dear Papa and I think I met God. Cute little girl, she was."

Vanya raised her eyebrows, but listened. "What did dad say?"

He shrugged. "Said he knew about the apocalypse and killed himself because we'd never have picked up the phone. And let's not forget," he wiggled his finger at Vanya. "I was officially dubbed his worst disappointment. So, I win that title."

"I don't think you're a disappointment."

"Don't lie."

"Hmm. I don't think you're a disappointment _anymore_." Vanya shrugged. "We were all messed up because of things that happened when we were kids. I think we're all learning, though. Isn't that what's important?"

Klaus smiled. "This support group feels really supportive. We should do this more often." He sat up. "What should we name ourselves? Just to make it official."

"Society of Childhood Trauma."

"Anti-Reginald Hargreeves."

"Anti- _Sir_ Reginald Hargreeves."

Klaus shot a look at her. "We are not giving him the satisfaction of being properly addressed ."

"I'm A Survivor."

"Destiny's Child? I approve." Klaus nodded, humming the tune. "What about 'You're an All-star'?"

Vanya giggled. "I'm an All-star."

"We're all an All-star." They continued in unison, smiling at the dumbest thing ever.

"How about," a tired voice joined in, "'Everyone, Shut Up and Go The Fuck To Sleep'?" Diego glared at them through half-asleep eyes before dropping his head back down on the pillow and continuing his rest.

They stopped talking, but there's a mutual understanding and acceptance that neither of them are going to get a good sleep no matter how much they try. Vanya gathered up the blanket and draped it around her shoulders. Her legs are pulled up with her arms around it and she rested her head on her knees, her eyes closed as she listened to Klaus humming some old song she couldn't remember the name of.

"Thanks, Klaus." She mumbled, not knowing if he understood or even heard it. "Goodnight."

He paused his humming and replied shortly after. "Sweet dreams."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed~


	3. (1)23457

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diego's eyes snapped to Klaus. "You never told us Ben was in Dallas the whole time."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✓ I didn't think I'd make one of these since there's already a lot of it but it seems the Defend Klaus fic really is obligatory in the fandom?? i couldnt resist???? But see this version doesn't have Ben in it because S2 happened 🙃 We all cried, huh?

It must have been over a week since they found themselves trapped here.

The Reginald Hargreeves of this timeline or universe, whichever worked, had visited. Everyone was sleeping, except for Klaus who suddenly startled everyone awake when he noticed the familiar silhouettes walking towards them. They tried asking questions, demanding that they be let out, banging loudly at the door, but Reginald only stared at them in displeasure for a second before leaving once more, Pogo loyally trailing behind him. 

They haven't seen either of them since.

Everyone was wide awake, so it was assumed that it was morning, but their concept of time has been messed up for a while now. Five had resumed his pacing around the room, which Allison only allowed because he's been able to sleep for two nights in a row. Allison and Vanya leaned on each other, looking tired despite days of doing absolutely nothing. Diego was in the corner, doing push-ups. Luther sat with his back on the door, thinking that maybe if he's always got some weight on it, it may bend someday. (No one's got a better idea, so they don't protest.) Klaus was lying down on the floor, their only source of sound as he would sometimes sing a line from an old song, or ask a random question that had just passed his head. 

A shadow from the door called their attention. Luther stood from his place and stepped back for all of them to see other-Ben's face, other-Number One, watching them from the outside. He motioned with his hands and they reluctantly moved back to the far side of the room, arms up, and facing the wall. The prison-like routine was established since yesterday when Zero checked in, brought them food, and they decided to attack her.

(She might have gotten rid of their powers, but their years of training for various kinds of martial arts were still there. They thought that since she didn't go on missions, she'd be less trained than them.)

(They were wrong and forgot about the physical shield thing. Couldn't even touch her, goddammit. She just laughed at them and called them cute. ' _At least you tried._ ' Well fuck you too, ma'am.)

With the routine, it felt more like a prison, despite the good and warm food, and how Zero willingly adjusted things to their tastes. They were given clothes that fit their size well enough, the temperature was adjusted often, and she had even brought them a Twister game one time. But the clothes were uniform, they get checked on even in the night, and the Twister game was confiscated when Diego tried throwing the mat at Zero like a net the other day.

"Rita wants me to ask if you need anything." Other-Ben stated when he was inside with the doors locked behind him. "Don't know why she bothers with you all, especially after your stupid attacks."

Five secretly tested his powers, but found them still blocked, so he shook his head subtly at his team.

"I don't hear you asking." Klaus sang in a mocking tone, twisting to look at him with a grin. Other-Ben meets him with a grin of his own and, _wow_ , there's this weird sort of pain in Klaus' chest area. Is this a _heart pain_ or—?

"I don't hear any requests." Other-Ben replied in the same tone. He spared the rest of them another look before he turned to walk out and lock the door. By the time they all turned, he's nowhere to be seen, but there were two familiar, full bowls of chips set by the door that Rita has given them several times. 

Allison was the first to reach it and passed one to Luther, before sharing one with Vanya and Five. "Do you think that's what Ben would have been like?"

"Like an annoying bastard that still leaves food?" Klaus swiftly took a chip from Luther's bowl. "Yes, but also worse because he would have watched me eat this and talk about how 'it's not healthy' and 'get some real food in you' with a touch of 'you look like the dead, Klaus'."

Diego's eyes snapped to Klaus. "You never told us Ben was in Dallas the whole time."

"What?" Luther asked, not sure if he heard correctly. But the way Klaus groaned and turned his back on them confirmed it. "Ben?"

Diego walked to stand behind Klaus. "Ben was there the whole time! You could have told us! We thought—"

"He was dead?" Klaus rolled his eyes as he moved to be closer to the bowl Allison held instead. "Yes, he was! And he is! Went into the light now! Left us all to fend for ourselves, that prick."

"Or is he really still here, and you're just lying about it again? Can you seriously prove Ben isn't here?" Vanya recognized the familiar tone Diego was using to be the same one he had every time he talked about his conspiracies involving Reginald Hargreeves and JFK. She waved him off and added what she knew.

"Ben really is gone." She wrapped her arms around herself. "When…When I was losing control at that building, Ben was the one who talked me down. Then he said goodbye."

Allison also stood, shaking her head. "You should have told us, Klaus. How long has Ben been with us? Why didn't you say anything?"

Klaus huffed at the attention before standing up as well. "'Us'? No, he's been with me ever since his damn funeral. And, by the way, don't fucking ask me why I never said because I did!"

Everyone flinched at the raised voice. "But when I made comments about Ben, the rest of you looked at me like I'm disrespecting his name instead of letting you know of his opinions. Plus there was the time I told you about him in the first round of apocalypse, but none of you believed me! Not you," he waved to Vanya, "you weren't there."

"Well, if you showed us some proof, then—" But Luther got cut off by Klaus' glare.

"Proof?" He repeated, scoffing at the word. "Why is it whenever words come out of my mouth, there needs to be some proof? _Hmm_? I talked to you all in that bowling alley and had to try to show you proof." He faced Diego. "When you talked to Ben while he was rudely possessing me, I was there in the metaphorical backseat while Ben metaphorically drove and saw that you also asked for proof. Just now, when I told you that dearest brother has gone into the light, Vanya needed to step up like some sort of witness to _prove_ ," his arms flailed and his voice raised hysterically at that word, "I wasn't lying."

"That's not what—" Allison tried to calm him down, but he was on a roll.

"What he meant?" He continued with a huff. "What you all meant? No, you all just couldn't trust me!"

Five pursed his lips. "It was hard to believe—"

"I SEE GHOSTS!" Klaus exclaimed, slightly tempted to impale his head into one of the spikes. "That's _literally_ my thing! Ben _died_ , I could _see_ him! How was that hard to believe?! I believed you when you told me you needed help to stop the apocalypse!" He pointed at Five. "I even helped you!"

"Well, with the drugs—" Luther started but left the rest of the words unsaid. Vanya closed her eyes, realizing before everyone else that that was the wrong thing to say.

Klaus breathed heavily after all the shouting. "You know," he said, voice softer but still holding a lot of frustration, "none of you ever asked where I got the drugs. Or how I started."

A chill went up Vanya's spine when she realized. "How did you start?" She asked, though there's a heavy feeling that she already knew the answer. "We were all heavily monitored back then. But you got them somehow… I thought you managed to sneak out or…"

"It was part of my special training." The surprise was evident in his siblings' faces. "Supposedly, the drugs were going to make my powers stronger or something, but papa dearest put a stop to it because it just made it worse." He plopped down onto the floor and lay back staring at the spiked ceiling. "Which sucks for him because in my point of view, hey, this awesome thing makes the ghosties disappear!"

Vanya moved to lay down beside him. "He drugged me too. Told me it was medicine."

"Oh?" Klaus looked at her with a grin. "More things to discuss in the support group then."

"We didn't know…" Luther was, once again, sporting the look he had every time he learns a new disappointing thing about his father.

"We didn't ask." Allison added, sighing as she watched her two siblings on the ground. "Sorry." The others vaguely offering their own apologies, which was honestly the best thing they could all hope for for now.

"Hey, no," Klaus leaned on his elbows, raising an eyebrow at his sister. "Well, Ben told me to think better of myself so I'll take that apology, thank you. But!" He exclaimed with a smile. "We were all messed up in this house, yeah?"

Agreeing nods from every person in the room.

"Then you're all invited to the support group Vanya and I have started. Come, take a spot." He gestured to the empty spaces around them and laid back down. Allison was the first to smile back and take the space beside Vanya. Luther hesitantly followed. Diego huffed, but dragged himself to lay down beside Klaus.

"What?" Five paused in his pacing, seeing them staring at him expectantly. He looked to the locked door, then back at them, before resigning himself to follow his siblings.

"So, how does this work?" Allison asked.

Klaus shrugged. "I don't really pay attention to these things."

"How about we just lie down in silence, and," Diego added quickly at the glare Allison gave him, "if we have any questions, just ask."

"But if you don't want to answer…" Vanya trailed off.

"Just 'pass' and we move on." Klaus continued surely.

"Pass."

Luther sent Five a look. "We haven't started yet."

"I don't like this." Five grumbled.

"We good?" Diego asked, addressing everyone.

Klaus glanced at everyone to see if they were comfortable. "Yeah, we're good. Welcome to the Hargreeves Children Support Group, everyone."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed~


	4. 1(2)23457

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Other-Vanya examined each of them before her eyes landed on Vanya again. "You were put under some drugs, people were scared of you. Your own siblings cast you away, did they?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✓ There's a bit about Vanya having a panic attack, but I think it's mild and not very descriptive? I will place a *** warning before the paragraph though.  
> ✓ Other-Vanya kinda bullies/taunts Vanya and idk where that came from but that's what happened 🤷🏽

Vanya, who was staring out of the glass on the door, was the one to warn them that someone was coming. With how long they've been in this place, it should have been easier and less of a surprise to see someone who looked like her walking on the other side of the door.

"Move." They know the room was soundproof, so it was the first sound they've heard from the outside without the door open. It surprised all of them, judging by the looks exchanged, but they all got up and moved back to face the wall with their arms up.

(Five had suggested they follow all the small rules and behave until the Sparrow Academy lets their guard down someday. Everyone easily agreed, but Diego, in particular, was impatient after just a couple of days.)

"You can relax," she said in a casual tone as she entered, "I'm just looking to chat. Zero's the only one who ever gets stories around here. She's busy today and asked for a favor. You wouldn't happen to need anything, would you?"

They all slowly put their hands down and turned. Other-Vanya had her hair down straight and in the same length as their Vanya's, but the white streak is eye-catching. (Something in Vanya told her that it wasn't dyed.) She perched herself on top of a stool she dragged in with her and was leaning back on the door. She wore dark eyeliner, making her eyes stand out more .In simpler words, Other-Vanya looks like a celebrity. Klaus commented on it, sounding quite intrigued, looking at the layered, stylish clothing she wore that he had never seen on Vanya.

"Which celebrity?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Catherine Zeta-Jones." Klaus looked her up and down again, noting the hint of fishnet stockings beneath her clothes. "Chicago."

"Cicero." She replied with a hint of a smile that shows she was satisfied with his answer. "I suppose your sister and I have such different styles." She turned her gaze on Vanya and looked her up and down. "What a disaster."

"Hey," Luther stepped up, ready to defend Vanya. But he was stopped by her shaking her head.

"No, no." Vanya stepped in. "I get it. I mean, look at her!" She gestured to other-Vanya. "I would never. _Could_ never."

"You'd look great, though!" Other-Vanya exclaimed with a pout, gesturing to herself as proof. "You could do better in fashion. And your powers." She added the last bit as an afterthought, staring intensely at Vanya in a way that made Five move to block her vision. "You didn't get trained, huh?"

"That's enough." Five said, but he was ignored.

"I mean, that's what I'm understanding from everything I've heard so far." Other-Vanya examined each of them before her eyes landed on Vanya again. "You were put under some drugs, people were scared of you. Your own siblings cast you away, did they?"

"Stop." Five tried again, noticing Vanya beginning to tremble and get lost in her memories. Allison was quick to move towards her and try to calm her down, Klaus following closely behind. The rest kept their eyes on other-Vanya, who sat comfortably and continued taunting her counterpart.

Other-Vanya noticed what was happening and sent a confused look. "Seriously? You get triggered from, what? Three sentences? Honestly — Number Seven, was it? — you seem really sheltered. Do you need some medication to help with your feelings?"

"Shut up!" Five was the quickest to respond after Vanya flinched once more. Without his powers, he could only lunge forward and try to attack her. The way she looked back smugly after a soft gush of air seemed to pass him made him stop.

"Go ahead," she said smoothly, an expression he's never seen in his sister's face staring back at him. "I dare you."

Five breathed heavily and chanced a glance back at the others to find them off their feet and suspended in the air, probably centimeters away from being impaled by the spiked running along the room's walls. He looked back at her. "You wouldn't."

She laughed. "Just because Z's been kind to you, doesn't mean she'll be vouching for you when you were the one to attack me first. We have loyalty to each other over everything else."

"You need us." He tried again. "That's why you've all kept us alive."

"Ha! No," she shook her head. "You're being kept alive because dad is currently too busy to deal with you. Though, I suppose if you aren't important enough for him to cancel some plans, he wouldn't mind if I just end your journey here."

Five stepped back reluctantly after a few more seconds and his siblings were returned, or rather, heavily dropped back to the ground.

Other-Vanya stood up and carried the stool, motioning for them to move back again as she opened the door and stepped through. The sound of the lock being put in place again echoed in the room and she smiled at them through the glass, her gaze landing on Vanya.

"Control your emotions." She looked at her up and down again, her voice echoing through the room. "Do better."

Once she turned the hallway and was out of their sight, the stool being dragged behind her, Vanya's legs gave in and she would have fallen hard on the ground if Allison hadn't noticed her still shaking.

***

Echoes of past memories still whispered and shouted at her, and Vanya's trying to block her ears, but _it's not helping_. There's a feeling like she's drowning, and she's gasping for air, but nothing's coming in. She just can't do anything right. She can't do anything at all.

"Give her space." Klaus motioned for them to move back after she flinched from being touched. Vanya has her powers blocked, so the most her emotions being triggered could do was make her fall into a panic attack. "Vanya? Vanya, can you please open your eyes? Vanya, can you hear me?" He continued to softly talk until she did open her eyes and, a little while longer, looked like she can actually see and recognize them. The gasping turned into heavy breathing and Allison was able to move her hands away from her ears without Vanya flinching from the touch.

"We've got you." Allison joined in. Vanya's hands gripped hers tight. "We're here. We've got you."

It felt like an hour or two had passed before they could all breathe properly again. Vanya had let go of Allison's hands and rubbed the tears out of her face. "Sorry. Thank you." She murmured, but couldn't look them in the eye.

"You don't have to apologize." Luther was quick to reply. "You don't have to listen to her either."

"Well," Five interrupted, clearly not agreeing. The others, save for Vanya, immediately glared at him. "I just mean she does have a better control over her powers and if that's something Vanya needs then maybe we could find out more from her or through Zero to help our Vanya."

"Right." Diego agreed in a tone that clearly said ' _this is not the time_ ' before turning to Vanya. "But don't you go thinking you have to be like her. She may know your powers more but that is not a good person."

"Yeah, Vanya!" Klaus cheered softly. "If that's what better is, then I'd much prefer you the way you are."

"When we get out," Vanya started, her voice trembling but determined, "I want to try training properly. I need to, otherwise I might lose control and cause another apocalypse and I can't— _Fuck_. I cannot go and do something like—"

"Hey, hey, hey." Allison soothed the moment Vanya's voice started raising again in panic. "We'll be there. _With_ you. We'll figure this out together, alright?"

Vanya looked up to see all of them crowded around her with worried, but supportive, expressions. She remembers a time when she would be casted aside or excluded from the conversation and knows that this time it will be different.

"Alright. Together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed~


	5. 12(3)3457

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She's the first in a while to not ask them to move back. They're not sure if it's confidence in the fact she can outpower them with a few words, or misplaced arrogance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✓ I... I actually don't have a lot of emotions about Allison so this was hard to write? It's also the shortest. I just??? I didn't even get to mention Ray who I enjoyed in UA S2 :(  
> ✓ This DOES mention incest and I DO have opinions on it, but I tried to go with what way I think that kind of conversation between them would go, which means me not starting a debate about it. Hopefully, no one's put off by this,,, I really did try to go for a neutral stance. I have no idea what the others genuinely think about Luther and Allison, BUT I do know that they tend to have something more important/more pressing to address over Luther and Allison's relationship so that's the path I took

She stared at them, a small, kind smile playing at her lips.

Honestly, Allison should have seen this coming. If Numbers Zero, One, and Two have stopped by at least once, then the logical conclusion would be Number Three dropping by next. Still, having someone who looks like you staring back with the exact same face you've seen in the mirror is quite jarring.

Other-Allison slipped into the room without a word. She's the first in a while to not ask them to move back. They're not sure if it's confidence in the fact she can outpower them with a few words, or misplaced arrogance due to their powers being blocked and the lack of attacks over the past weeks. (Because yes, it has been a few weeks and, no, they haven't figured a way out yet.)

"I heard you have a daughter." Allison's eyes closed at her words, and she thought back to yesterday when she accidentally slipped that information into a conversation she was having. This was proof they were being monitored in the room like Five had suspected. Other-Allison tilted her head at the silence of the room. "Okay, I'm just trying to make conversation. Z didn't tell me you were all this quiet."

(Zero is there almost every day and she has somehow made her schedule free enough to spend at least a few hours there just talking with them. Five and Diego were adamant not to talk to her and give any more details since they can't exactly trust her. But the woman has a way to make people relaxed and comfortable even in a confined space where only she had the key. She smiles, laughs, and shares stories with them so casually that they don't realize they've let their guard down again until after she's already gone. Then the cycle of suspicion and trust plays again the next day when Zero brings them food they actually enjoy.)

Allison saw Five shake his head at her, a sign to not break their rule of keeping silent today. The others support this plan of action. (Again, no one had a better idea.)

"Well, I never thought I'd make a good wife or mother, you know?" Other-Allison seemed to be willing to fill the silence by herself, leaning casually on the door and picking at her nails. "Realistically speaking, I think every time something goes wrong or even just frustrates me in the slightest, I'd just try to Rumor it away, which takes away their ability to decide for themselves. I don't want to be that person, and I think I could control myself, but the temptation would just be too much. Did you go through the same dilemma?"

It took a lot to not answer back or give any signs of weakness, but Allison was able to keep her eyes at some random point in the room. 

"What's your kid's name? A daughter, right? What's her name?" Other-Allison tilted her head in thought, looking up to the ceiling. "I think if I had a daughter, I would have named her Clara. It has Latin roots, if I remember correctly, and it just sounds so nice." Her smile grew wider when she noticed something. "Oh, you flinched! Is the name close?"

Allison kept avoiding her eyes to keep calm, but it was never in her nature to keep her mouth shut. The blood was boiling in her veins. "Stop."

Other-Allison's eyes widened in fascination at the response. "Ooh, it is close! Can I try to take a guess? Maybe we have the same taste for names, we've got the same face, after all! Hmm, is it Clarissa? Clarisse? Claire? Is that it?" She moved closer to Allison at each word, like a camera zooming in and capturing her emotions.

"Leave her alone." Luther stepped up and placed himself in front of Other-Allison, blocking her from touching Allison. She stares back at him with none of the fondness he's grown used to seeing in her eyes. 

"Oh no," Other-Allison groaned, sounding disappointed as she backed away with heavy steps. "No, seriously? Z said she was getting strange vibes from you two and, for the love of all that is holy, I hoped it wasn't this."

"What do you mean?" Diego asked, unknowingly making it worse.

She looked at the others and motioned between Luther and Allison with a frown. "Is _this_ really a thing? And you're all okay with it?" 

Luther seemed to shrink in on himself. "Well, we're not really siblings, so—"

Other-Allison groaned louder. "I can't believe this! My own counterpart! _Incest?!_ What a disappointment!" She huffed and looked back at them. "I don't care that you're not blood-related. You were adopted as siblings, you were raised as siblings from infancy, no matter how shitty your Reginald Hargreeves may have been! Saying you're not really siblings invalidates adopted family relationships and that's just _rude_."

" _Our_ Reginald Hargreeves?" Five interrupted, furrowing his eyebrows. "Does that mean—"

"This is not about that." She stated firmly, pointing a finger at Five before turning it back to Luther and Allison. "I really don't have the right to tell you what to do or how to feel. And I know my opinion doesn't really matter to you all in the grand scale of things, but I am unbelievably tempted to Rumor that idea out of your brains."

"Woah, hey!" Klaus exclaimed, but didn't move from his corner. "No powers in this room, please. Last time was a nightmare." The feeling of being lifted from their feet and almost impaled on the spikes on the ceiling wasn't one any of them would like to experience again.

Other-Allison rolled her eyes. "I'm not going to. But honestly! It's like if one of my siblings and I— God, I can't even say it with a straight face." Other-Allison cut herself off with a shiver, and waved her hand in a familiar motion that has them moving to the other side of the room and facing the wall. They turn again, after the sound of locks, to see her standing on the other side of the door, watching Allison with a judgmental look on her face, then walking away while shaking her head.

"Don't mind her." Vanya placed a hand on Allison's arm and helped her sit on the floor when her knees felt weak. 

"Yeah, so what if you and Luther being together is weird?" Klaus added, not bothering to stand as he watched worriedly from the side. 

Allison let out a choked laugh, but it's obvious she's tearing up. "No, it's not that… I know that's weird, I accept it's weird and that a lot of people see it as something wrong. It's why we've never seriously…" She trails off, helplessly gesturing between herself and Luther. "It's… She's right about Claire. And me not being suited to be a mother or a wife."

"Allison…" Luther had tried to convince her otherwise, but she shook her head as tears started to fall. 

"No, no, she knows herself. She knows the stupid flaws that come with our powers, so, in that sense, she knows _me_ well." Allison looked defeated as she takes a deep breath and wipes the tears that keep coming. "I mean, I know them too — arrogance, power corrupts, impatience, all those things and more — but the difference is that she was willing to admit it and I just… I just pretty much ignored it or thought I could handle it and then when the time came, I decided, well, maybe one Rumor wouldn't hurt. Then it became tow, then three. And, now, look how I ended up. I lost not one, but two husbands and I can't even see my child."

"You're also stuck in what seems to be the wrong timeline," Five quipped, not so helpfully if the glare sent by Luther was anything to go by. "But sure, let's forget that."

"Maybe if I just admitted it to myself earlier," Allison continued, as if no one even talked, lost in her thoughts. "Maybe if I had the decency to do that, things would have turned out differently for me."

There was a moment of silence. There's no use lying and saying that it was okay because it wasn't, so they just sat together and let some time pass. It's not like they could go anywhere anyway.

"If it makes you feel any better," Diego said a few minutes later, "I don't think you're anywhere close as bad as Reginald."

"Ha. The bar is set so low, isn't it?" Klaus commented with his eyes closed.

Vanya moved closer to Allison, a comforting hand on her shoulder. "And, also, if it's any consolation, I think you make a great sister."

("Maybe too good." Five mumbles almost incoherently, looking at Luther. Klaus hits the back of his head when he sees Allison look back down. _Have some tact, Five_.)

"At least now, you're seeing where you went wrong." Luther added with a smile. "So, in the future, you could do better? Either way, we're all with you."

"Yeah," Vanya agreed. "You said we'll work through my powers together. So, I'll do the same with you."

"Great!" Klaus exclaimed when he noted the less tense atmosphere. Allison looked less down, and there's a small smile on her face. "Glad we all worked this out. Just another successful meeting for the Hargreeves Children Support Group."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed~


	6. (0)7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are we seriously letting this happen?" Five asked incredulously, Diego supporting him from behind. "We're sending Vanya out?"
> 
> "She's going to be fine, right?" Allison asked in the silence of the room.
> 
> Klaus went to lie back down on the floor. "Of course, she'll be fine. Vanya's got this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✓ For the past months I have stayed in my house, and the only time I've left was to go to a bank and stay there for an hour or so. I might have vicariously lived through Vanya in this fic.  
> ✓ Disclaimer: I don't actually get Vanya's powers (so I made it into something I do understand) nor do I have a lot of knowledge on classical music apart from my piano lessons for a few years that I've somehow managed to erase from my head.

Zero's face appeared through the glass again at what must be the third or fourth week. She showed them a tray of food, as per usual, her bright smile making it seem like she was just a next door neighbor bringing them some extra food she had made and not one of their main prison guards. With a motion, the members of the Umbrella Academy moved back to the other side of the room with their hands up. The sound of the lock echoed and they waited.

"There's no plans to attack me today, is there?" She asked in a teasing tone and Five turned his head to see half her body already through the door. His fingers tingled and he's tempted to attack, but they've done 15 different versions of attacking Zero whenever she visited and nothing good ever came out of it.

(To be fair, nothing bad really came out of it, too. She just laughs at their failed attempt and shakes her head at them before leaving, but, other than the 'move to the back with your hands up and face the wall' routine established the first time around, they've never been punished. It's just that they know there's only so much attempted attacks one person can take before they snap, and, Klaus, in particular, is against losing their one source of good food because the other members who has come by and introduced themselves don't really care much for their requests.)

"None," Klaus cheerfully and truthfully replied. He's definitely the most welcoming amongst them towards Number Zero and would always be up to talk about one of his wild stories back before all the time travel happened. He would overshare, yes, but he would try to without sharing any more important details about them as a team or how they worked and how they got here. If he starts to slip, the others would give him a subtle sign, like a glare, or straight out tackle him to shut him up. In any case, Zero seemed to treat them more kindly because of the stories, and perhaps, ultimately, she'll have her guard down at some point, so they don't discourage Klaus. "Is that Lucky Charms?"

"Yup, sorry. Only cereal today, kids." At her words and the sound of the door locking, they turned to her again. She was already sitting comfortably on the floor, preparing a bowl of cereal for herself. "Go on, help yourself."

Klaus quickly moved to her side and poured a bunch of cereal into his bowl. The rest slowly followed, while Five and Diego stayed back and exchanged another exasperated look. It just doesn't seem to matter how much pep talk and reminders they drill into the others' heads, they always just seem to trust her. Even Luther, surprisingly. But then, he did need an absurd amount of food to be at the top of his game compared to the rest of them, so the way to a man's heart is his stomach and all that.

(She really could just kill them by slipping poison in the food someday. Isn't that just exciting?)

There was a bit of silence for a while, with only the sound of spoons scraping the bowl echoing in the room. "So, do you need anything?" Zero asked as she finished her breakfast.

Five leveled her with a deadpan gaze. "Yes, actually. We want to be let out." He said it in such a serious tone, but she just rolled her eyes with a smile like she always does every single day, failing to give them a proper reply.

"Can I get a new hair tie?" Vanya asked in between spoonfuls of cereals. "I broke mine this morning."

Zero watched her with an assessing gaze. "Can I see?" She held her hand out where Vanya placed the thin line of black elastic. "Alright, I could get you one." She pocketed it before collecting the empty bowls.

"Leaving already?" Allison asked. Not that she wanted to talk more, especially with how some of her stories were used against her some days ago. But usually, Zero would stay for at least an hour, pestering them for more stories, or telling ones of her own. 

Zero nodded in response. "There's things to do, so I'm off. Come on, Vanya."

The entire room froze at her words. Allison quickly stood and looked around to see if Vanya's counterpart was hiding somewhere and that Zero was actually talking to her, but she didn't find anything. Diego moved immediately to pull Vanya behind him and the tension that had dissipated over the time spent eating the food returned to their shoulders. Members of the Umbrella Academy formed a united barrier around their Number Seven, with Luther towering in the front. Five slipped through and faced Zero. "What are you going to do to her?"

"Whatever it is, we're not letting it happen." Diego snapped.

The exasperated, but amused, expression from when she was attempting to put them on timeout for the first time was back. She balanced the tray with bowls and the empty box of cereal on one hand, while the other was positioned on her waist. Zero had always looked at them like they weren't a threat, but, this time, it also looks like she's just dealing with children. "Didn't you say you wanted to be let out?"

"You're letting us out?" Klaus' hopeful tone asked.

"Well, no." She pursed her lips, looking unapologetic as she shrugged. "I don't have that much sway over how things go here. But I prioritized, and out of all of you, she needs to be let out the most."

"And why is that?" Allison questioned.

Zero scanned the group, her dark brown eyes narrowing at what she saw. "You barely have any idea about your powers, do you? Well, I already knew that, but it must be a surprise to some of you."

"So, what?" Vanya moved out of the shield her siblings have made around her, failing to keep the fear out of her voice. "You think I'm going to lose control?"

"Not really. I'm pretty confident I can timeout you throughout however long you stay here. But it's going to feel terrible for you to have both your physical body and your powers trapped in one space, so we're getting rid of one problem. Just for a few minutes at least."

Diego whispered something to Five, which he nodded to.

Zero spotted them almost immediately. "It's not gonna work. If, and that's a really improbable if, Vanya blows up this place because of her feeling suffocated or claustrophobic, then all of you die as well." She turned to Vanya. "You barely know the range of your powers. Is that really something you want to risk?"

"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Luther interrupted, shaking his head. "You could be telling us this so you could get Vanya alone and easily overpower her."

"That's the thing, though." Zero grinned. "I already overpower all of you. But if it's any consolation, I haven't backed out of any of the promises I've made."

"I trust her." The siblings turn to find Klaus already lying on the ground. "Besides, what else can we do? Die again? Apocalypse 3.0?"

"I'm going." Vanya had frozen at Zero's earlier words. There really hasn't been anything wrong with anything Zero said so far, but even if you add in the possibility of all this turning out to be an elaborate way to trap her? Vanya already knew Zero knew more than her about her own powers, and the existing risk of causing an unwanted explosion and killing her family was enough to help her make a decision. "I get to have a say too. I'm going."

Allison breathed deeply and , with slight hesitation, went to hug Vanya. "Try to find a way out and stay safe." She whispered.

"Are we seriously letting this happen?" Five asked incredulously, Diego supporting him from behind as they watched the exchange. "We're sending Vanya out?"

"You're not sending anyone out. I'm _bringing_ her out." Zero corrected, slipping a hand around Vanya's arm. "Now, if you're all ready." She motioned to the others to move back.

It took longer than usual for them to find their way to the other side of the room, and even longer to just face the wall and let them leave. But in just a few short moments, they heard the sound of the door opening and closing. Immediately turning, they catch a glimpse of Vanya doing a small, unsure wave goodbye as Zero pulled her away, her other hand still balancing the tray of empty bowls and boxes.

"She's going to be fine, right?" Allison asked in the silence of the room.

Klaus went to lie back down on the floor. "Of course, she'll be fine. Vanya's got this."

* * *

"Where are we going?" Vanya asked when they got on the elevator. Even in their original timeline, she had never seen this elevator due to her memories being wiped the first few times she was brought here, and how she was unconscious at the two recent times. Any memory she might have of this particular place was hazy at best.

Zero let go of her arm, which felt weird. They're supposed to be prisoners in this place, but Zero had never really felt like their captor. If anything, she made Vanya feel like she's just been staying quarantined in a hotel room with how often she follows their requests. (Not that she'd let Luther, Diego, or Five hear that. They seem to be the ones with the biggest problem about her.) 

"I'm taking you to the garden. A bit of fresh air might do you some good."

They passed by the kitchens first to drop the tray by the sink and headed straight for the doors. There was this feeling of excitement at the thought of seeing the outside, knowing that the sun would be hitting her skin. It was strange since Vanya's always preferred to stay indoors, but the glow of the outdoors looks so beautiful and welcoming to her right now. The things being imprisoned in the basement does to you.

"I'm going to take her outside for around thirty to forty minutes." Vanya turned to see who Zero was talking to and stepped back in surprise. "Hold the fort down for me, will you?" Then her arm was tugged again and Vanya lost sight of the green, glowing box floating, dare she say it, menacingly on the other side of the kitchen. 

Her first step outside took over her mind for a moment — the breath of fresh air with a hint of that familiar scent that lets her know it must have rained recently. It had only just registered that she wasn't given shoes, but she's glad for it because the feeling of grass beneath her was very much welcomed. Vanya opened her eyes, not even realizing she's closed them, and spotted the few differences from what she's used to seeing back home. Since their Ben isn't gone, there's no gray statue to commemorate him in the middle of the yard. Instead, the place is filled with plants and flowers of various colors, brightening up the place more. (Diego had repeatedly pointed out that something about this academy annoyingly screams peace and serenity, and this garden just proved him right.)

She didn't notice how long it's been, but Vanya would bet she spent a good portion of the time she had just absorbing the sun. The stone gazebo is still there, though it's cleaner than she's ever remembered seeing it. Zero is seated on the elevated parts where you should be leaning your head, and her legs were swinging freely from the height of her seat. With the sun beaming down on her, the deep red color of Zero's hair looked more obvious than it's ever been. So deep and dark that it almost looked black until the sun hit it just the right way.

"Walk around." She advised, not bothering to keep an eye on her. "It's going to be a while before you get time like this again, I bet."

It made Vanya snap out of it. She should be looking for ways out. "Where are the others?" She asked hesitantly, making small talk as she took a few steps around. Subtly, she tried tapping into her powers like Five would tell her to, but it doesn't work at all.

"Out on a mission. They'll be back early tomorrow at the very least."

"Oh." Vanya remembered how she was unwillingly left home during missions and yet here's Zero, willingly staying and clearly enjoying her time alone. She wondered for a moment if, maybe, she could have handled things better. "What's the…uh…the green box?"

Zero looks at her from where she was sitting. "You don't know Abhijat?"

"What?" Vanya shook her head. "We saw it before right before you all locked up us, but we don't know what it is."

"Who," Zero corrected. She jumped off her seat and moved to walk beside Vanya as she explored the garden. "Abhijat. He's been here as long as I remember, and, yes, he looks like a box, but he's family. You don't have Abhijat back home?"

Vanya shook her head. "What does he do?"

"He mostly helps out in security." Zero hummed in thought. "I mean, every one of us is trained enough to fend for each other and ourselves, but it never hurts to have more of a defense. He's also good at science, so sometimes he goes with dad in travels both to learn more and to keep dad safe."

"So, he, what? Shoots lazers?"

Zero laughed. "I see you looking for intel. You wouldn't want to find out what he can do. Just a piece of advice: don't try it. And if you'd be willing to take one more: Keep your siblings in check. Five and Diego, sometimes Luther, always seem like they're about to end up in a fight eventually. You don't need to gather more attention."

Vanya was lost in thought again, but she kept that in her mind to share with the others later. She moved around the garden enough to know there wouldn't be any way out, and it seemed like that the secret passage that they would use when they were kids didn't even exist in the first place. "Where's Reginald then? Is he in the mission too?"

" _Sir_ Reginald." The automatic reply came. "No, he's off somewhere else, no doubt monitoring the situation, but he has other things to deal with." Zero looked amused at Vanya's straightforward questions. "Here, I'm not going to answer any more of your attempts, and I'm very stubborn when it comes to that, but I can show you something else."

Zero plopped down in the middle of the grass, patting the space in front of her to invite Vanya to do the same. They looked at each other in silence for a while until Vanya felt something cold and warm at the same time just rushing through her veins. It's faint and barely there, but Vanya recognized it for what it is. 

"You gave me my powers back."

Zero shook her head, but smiled at the expression on Vanya's face. "I gave your control over a really small piece of it back. Maybe around 1% or less?"

Deep breaths. She could feel the slight, weak vibration within her, trailing up her spine. "Why?"

"You've never been trained. I thought, why not help out there? Let's be productive." Zero shrugged, as if this wasn't confusing the hell out of Vanya right now. She reached into her pocket and brought out a small snow globe. "Our Vanya used this when she was younger."

Vanya took the snow globe offered to her and saw that it was the typical one with a tiny decorated Christmas tree and pieces of snow that could move around freely in the water. She looked up to see Zero watching her carefully.

"Your power is strong and easily triggered by emotions. That's why control is especially important to you." There was no sign of hesitation as she spoke, which would continue to bother Vanya later on, but she was too focused on the words right now and understanding it. "Do you know any breathing exercises? It sounds fake, I know, but it really does help." They spent the next few minutes reviewing what breathing exercises Vanya's heard about and learning new ones that Zero swore by. Vanya held the snow globe tightly in her hands.

"Sound is also important to you. It's basically your source of powers. When you feel emotions, your powers allow you to turn the sounds around you into a kind of energy you can control." The words were so familiar and Vanya barely held back a flinch from remembering Elliot and how he had manipulated her. Zero shot her a concerned look but moved on. "The thing about your power is: You're human, so you always feel emotions, and you're not deaf, so there's sounds everywhere."

"The key is learning to understand your emotions because that helps you control it better. Doing the breathing exercises will help at least clear your mind from the lack of logic emotions sometimes bring. That, in turn, helps you use the emotions you have more accurately. It won't help you to repress your emotions, because that would overwhelm you at some point, and faking your emotions makes your powers a tad bit more unpredictable." Zero tilted her head. "There's also the way of just keeping calm all the time and having lots of patience, but it's exhausting and will get to you at some point too. The point is all emotions can be strong. You just need to be able to understand it, so you can figure out the best way to use it yourself."

Vanya furrowed her eyebrows. "How do I figure that out?"

"Well, that's really up to you." Zero shrugged. "It's not my powers and it's not my emotions. But I gave you back a part of control. What I want you to do is use that to move the snow pieces inside this." She tapped the snow globe thrice. "The catch is that I also gave you enough control to basically make this thin piece of glass explode. Find a way to channel your emotions to turn sound waves into energy that can vibrate and move the pieces enough to make it snow over the tiny Christmas tree, without breaking the globe itself."

Vanya was unsure, but she closed her eyes and did what she's done the past few times. There's a sound of a bee buzzing somewhere, slowly amplifying in her mind, and the feeling of freedom that she had leaving the building was spreading over her. 

Suddenly, the vibrations stopped. Vanya's eyes flew open to find her and Zero still in the same spot. Her eyes looked to the snow globe to find a small crack at the top that wasn't there earlier.

"Sorry, I had to shut you down." Zero smiled softly. "I don't exactly have a lifetime supply of snow globes."

"I don't understand." Vanya muttered. That method has always worked for her so far. But then again, she once lightly tapped a glass with a spoon and made everything on the table explode, much to everyone's dismay.

"You focused on outside sounds, did you?" At her nod, Zero sighed. "Well, outside sounds aren't the most reliable in my opinion. It's all external anyway, so you've always had little control over it. Someday, you might be able to reference it, but with very little practice so far? Well, I think you were doing great in your emotions though!"

Vanya lips bitterly curled up at the compliment. "But I still can't control it."

"Apocalypse." Zero said plainly, making Vanya look down in shame. "You caused an apocalypse with your powers. I think the reason this is hard for you is that you didn't consider what a small and fragile piece of ornament this is. You're good at understanding your emotions, and making it stronger. You're good at transforming sounds into something you can control. But you also have to learn how to moderate it. The strong emotions turn into energy and vibrations, but you need to move it around in a certain way."

"Imagine your emotions give you the ability to move your arm." Zero took the snow globe. "And you now have the ability to shake the snow globe whatever way you want. But shaking it strongly a million times might just let it slip off your grasp and break. At the very least, it has the same effect as shaking it softly, with the snow pieces moving around and falling down anyway. So, why waste the energy of shaking it until your arm hurts, if you could just turn it upside down once and have it done with?"

Vanya reached out and slowly took the snow globe back. "I— I think I get it. I want to try again."

She got a supportive smile in return. "Great! And if you could also consider internal sounds? Do you play an instrument?"

"A violin. I had to learn it ever since I was young."

"Ah," Zero nodded. "There might be a reason for that. See, if you focused on an external sound, like someone's footsteps while walking, you might be thrown off if they miss a step or start running. It's possible, like I said earlier, but it might be better for you to start with the basics."

"So, you must have learned some classical pieces, right?" Zero's eyes remained on Vanya's, genuinely teaching her the entire time. "When you play a classical piece, one of the fun things is that you get to control the pace. That's why some people can finish the same piece at different times. Since you know how to do that, and you can play an instrument, try imagining the sound of a violin playing one of your favorite songs and control the speed it goes at. Use that mental audio as your anchor."

At her words, Monti's [_Csárdás_](https://youtu.be/IPYHy8k9Z34)begins playing in her mind. Though not technically her favorite, it was one of the few pieces she had chosen to learn first and was one that she's listened to for a million times. The low notes and slow pace started the piece and when the higher notes played in, Vanya opened her eyes with a much clearer understanding of everything Zero had been trying to say. She stared at the snow globe in her hands and felt the energy from her gently pushing the snow pieces to float up. 

Vanya smiled.

At the part of the piece she loves to hear the fast pace of, she was moving the falling snow in the tiny glass from side to side, swaying to the music only she could hear, as if she was touching it with her own fingers. The joy in the music helped with her emotions and there wasn't a single sign of the snow globe cracking. All Vanya could think of was how fun this was turning out to be.

When the pace slowed down a bit, yet the high notes remained, she put down the snow globe and let go of her control over the snow. The rest of the piece played on in her mind without her feeling the need to control something, but with the knowledge that she could. When Vanya noticed that Zero had once again blocked her powers, the high feeling of finally being in control, even if it was just for a few seconds, still enveloped and comforted her.

"Thank you." She whispered, not even realizing it until the words had left her mouth.

Zero's gaze was soft and she inclined her head in acknowledgment before helping Vanya to her feet. Still overwhelmed with the joy and contentment of understanding her powers a bit more, a bit better, Vanya barely registered them reaching the basement room until she was already being gently pushed inside. 

She turned to see Zero send her one last smile as she waved over her shoulder when she left. 

"Vanya? Vanya!" Diego was in front of her, lightly tapping her cheeks to get her attention. By the looks on their faces, they must have been calling her name several times now. "What did they do to you?"

"No, she…" Vanya let out a breath she didn't realize she's been holding. That's when she notices her hand was holding tightly onto something — a thin piece of hair tie, as white as the snow she had managed to control. All at once, the emotions come back and there were tears falling from her eyes.

"Hey! What did you do?!" Diego let go of her slammed his palm repeatedly at the glass on the door, shouting at the empty corridor. "What did you do to her?!" Allison took his place in front of Vanya and pulled her sister into a tight hug.

Vanya pulled away reluctantly when she was starting to get a clearer mind. The breathing exercises from earlier echoing in her head. "Diego, stop. She didn't do anything."

"What about the others?" Five asked.

Vanya shook her head. "They weren't there. It was just Zero. And the green box one, but I was just with Zero the whole time."

"Then why are you crying? What's wrong?" The tone of concern in Luther's voice was evident.

Vanya smiled again, but the tears kept coming. "She helped me."

Klaus moved closer. "Helped you what?" Though he probably already knew the answer. He just wasn't sure if he should be happy or not.

"Training." She breathed out, beaming excitedly at the others. "She helped me actually train without anyone getting hurt and—"

"She gave you back your powers?" Diego interrupted.

"No, not really. Just a bit, not enough to blow the place up or get us all out. I tried, trust me." Vanya shook her head. "She just helped me understand it more. I've never… I've never felt so sure of myself before." At a loss for words she moved to sit down on the floor.

Allison followed, and, slowly, so did the rest. "She didn't hurt you? Didn't manipulate you or anything?"

Vanya shook her head. "She just let me walk around the garden and then we had training for the rest of the time."

"What is her motive?!" Five stood up, asking the ceiling in a frustrated manner before he resorted to his usual pacing.

Klaus pulled him back down to sit beside him and faced Vanya. "Well, it's Vanya's first proper training session and, look at her, she looks ecstatic! Aren't you all proud?"

For a moment, Vanya was brought back to the times she would wander around them during their training as kids, always asking how it feels or what they're going to do next. For a second, she selfishly considered keeping it all to herself the way they all did.

"Do you want to talk about it, Vanya?" Klaus asked encouragingly. He nudged the others to show the same enthusiasm he does, but they do it in a more controlled manner. "Tell us about it!"

They're trying after all and, despite being locked up like prisoners for almost a month now, they really were getting better and becoming closer. Vanya couldn't ruin that.

So, she genuinely smiles once more, and tells them everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed ~


	7. 123(4)457

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five stepped forward, moving closer to his target. "But you're the Lila we met back in the 60s, aren't you? You were taught by The Handler and you worked with the commission. What are you playing at here?"
> 
> She blew hair at her bangs, which were more clean cut than they've seen before. "Genuinely have no idea what you're talking about."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✓ I wanted to make Lila similar to the character she was playing when around Diego for the first part of S2, I hope I did that well?  
> ✓ It somehow turned to Klaus being the main again, which I had no control over, so I had to cut it off (but I believe there would have been a bit of crying and a bunch of hugs)

"Hello." She waved awkwardly once she stepped inside. They had followed the established prison-like routine of moving to the back when they were signaled to do so, and turned to find Lila Pitts (or is it her lookalike?) standing by the door. "I think it's my turn now, right? It's like we're following the number system, with Numbers Zero through Three meeting you and, now, I'm Four, so it's my turn. But really, we're not! Z's just a bit busy right now. Anyway, hi. I'm Lila Hargreeves."

"Your turn to, what, exactly?" Five asked casually. Out of the Sparrow Academy they've met so far, she's proving to be the most talkative. (Zero loves telling stories as much as she hears them, but she's too smart and careful with her words. She also seems to have a way of turning the conversation around and getting them to talk instead.) They need more information to try and get out of this place.

Lila shrugged. "Nothing really. It's just like we're introducing ourselves one by one, having a little chat and private time with you guys even though it wasn't in our plans when we wake up in the morning." She looked around the room. "I'm not all that pumped about it. It's not like you brought my doppelganger." She took a step closer and found the others quick to step back. Call it instinct or a habit after they had one of the hardest fights they've had with her just quite recently, but she just looked more amused than surprised. Lila stepped back, hands raised as if saying 'no tricks here'.

"Alright, down, children." She said with the matching signals, like she was speaking to a bunch of dogs. "Not gonna lie, I'm one of the best at hand-to-hand combat in this place, but I'm not gonna be able to do a lot of powers over you guys as you conveniently don't have it right now. It's why Abhijat's waiting outside for me."

Five peered through the glass and saw the green block that Vanya had mentioned seeing again during her adventure outside floating by the hallway. It didn't have eyes, but he knew it was watching him back. "Oh, you've got a security detail, huh?"

Lila shrugged. "He's a tiny bit overprotective. But you gotta love him."

"Cut it out." Five glared. "You're Lila, aren't you?"

She furrowed her eyebrows. "Did you forget me introducing myself a while back? I thought I did okay..."

"No," Five stepped forward, moving closer to his target. "But you're the Lila we met back in the 60s, aren't you? You were taught by The Handler and you worked with the commission. What are you playing at here?"

She blew hair at her bangs, which were more clean cut than they've seen before. "Genuinely have no idea what you're talking about."

Five was held back before he could throw a fist at her out of pure irritation. There's not a single trace of lie or deception, but he could never be too sure with a child who was raised and trained by The Handler herself. He looked back to see it was Diego who held him back by his arm and pushed him to the back before moving towards the woman himself.

"Lila," Diego spoke softly and had his hands out, like approaching a frightened animal, "I know it may not seem like it, but you can trust us. You can be honest. Tell us who you are." By that point, Diego had successfully placed both his hands on her shoulders, looking her at the eye and hoping she could see the sincerity in them.

(Vanya, for how observant she could be, was the first to notice how Lila's eyebrow seemed to rise slightly as she looked at the hands squeezing her shoulders gently. She was also probably the first to accept that this isn't the Lila they had dealt with.)

"Oh, honey," Lila purred, her voice deep as she looked up at Diego through her eyelashes. "I could be whoever you want."

Diego shook his head, thinking she's not understanding what he's been trying to say. "You can be yourself, Lila."

"Is that what you want, love?" She stepped closer to him, trailing her fingers up his arm.

"Are you actually flirting right now?" Interrupted Klaus' incredulous tone. Luther kept silent but rolled his eyes and went to drag the oblivious Diego away without a word. 

Lila pouted as she watched Diego pulled away. "No fun. He doesn't seem to mind."

"Stop acting! Just give us a straight answer." Five looked more unsettled and was probably about to attack another time if Allison didn't already have a tight grasp on his arm.

"I am Lila! That's my name!" She laughed, moving back to the door. "You think I'm someone I'm not, but if I try to say otherwise, you wouldn't believe me, would you?"

That was true, but Five didn't need to openly say she was right. He was always going to suspect her.

"So, you're not the Lila I know?" Diego asked again, just to be sure. His hands were clenched as if ready to punch either the wall or Lila herself. Unfortunately, that seems to be one too many times to be asking her the same thing because she throws up her hands in exasperation and the fun, clumsy, flirty personality she'd been exhibiting was replaced by irritation.

"Goddammit. I don't like repeating myself!" She hissed, already knocking on the door to signal the green box (what the hell was his name again?) to open it. "Also, you seem to like me," she pointed at Diego, "so let me just give you a piece of advice: Flirt back, hate me, or don't trust me. Choose any or all, but at least make it make sense! Make it fun!"

And with that, she left the room with a huff, slamming the door, and the green box floating after her.

"Five?" Vanya asked tentatively. The old man in a teenage body was pacing back and forth as he always does. The others left Vanya to it as she was always the one with the best chances at calming him down.

"You okay?" Luther asked, approaching Diego instead. His fists were going back and forth from clenched to unclenched as if not sure what to do. He scowled in response before stomping off to the side to cool off.

Klaus tutted. "See, you're both frustrated, but it's not good to lash out at the rest of us humble humans. Remember we were warned to not draw attention to ourselves?" He sat up straight. "Oh, wow. Oh no. That coming from me? I think we've been trapped here for too long."

"We need to get out!" Five exclaimed, continuing his pacing.

"Well, we're not going to get anywhere with you all riled up like that." Allison said simply. "We're not that bad, but you're obviously the smartest out of all of us and more experienced. If one of us can figure out a way, it'll be you."

Five scowled and pulled at his hair. "You think I don't know that?!"

"Diego?" Luther's voice interrupts the rising tone of their other brother. They turn to see Luther watching Diego, who was still by the corner of the room but is now curled up on the floor. Allison was the first to rush to him and gently pull him up into a sitting position.

"I'm so confused," he murmured, hints of his stutter seeming to come back. "Is it her? Is it not?" He buried his face into his hands, inhaling sharply.

"What does it matter?" Five plopped down on the floor in front of Diego. "We won't be able to trust her either way. No," he argued at the sign of Diego protesting, "if she's not the Lila we know, then she's still someone keeping us prisoner. If she is the Lila we know, she's someone keeping us prisoner and she left suddenly all those years ago with that suitcase." Five shook his head. "We don't know what she could have been through in the time we haven't seen her, so we can't trust her too."

"Why do we suck at relationships?" Vanya complained from her spot lying on the floor after a moment of silence. 

Klaus chuckled. "Exactly. Do you think it's a curse?"

"No such thing." 

Klaus shot Five a look. "Yeah, sure. Time travels and superpowered children. But we draw the line at curses and magic." He turned on his stomach and placed his chin on his hands, his legs swinging behind him. "To be fair to you though, I think your relationship with the mannequin was the one that turned out well the most."

"The mannequin," Five said through gritted teeth, "has a name."

"Right, Dolores." Vanya nodded seriously. "Our.,. sister-in-law."

"Oh, wow." Diego looked more in control and stable as he looked up and stared blankly at a point on the ceiling. "Never thought of it that way."

"So, there's Luther who's closest thing to a relationship was…" Vanya trailed off, looking at Allison, who rolled her eyes. 

"And Diego's wonderful lady cop friend. Plus Little Miss Number Four of this world." Klaus winced apologetically at the glare Number Two sent him, but continued on. "Allison got married twice and lost both." He stopped at the look Allison gave him.

"You've never been in a serious relationship." Allison continued, a glare still targeting Klaus. "Five has the mannequin — Dolores," she corrected. "Ben died too young. Vanya had a boyfriend who manipulated her to basically start the apocalypse and a girl back in the 60s that she had to leave behind."

"Yeah," Vanya said resignedly. "It's rough."

"That's what you think." A low tone of amusement in Klaus' voice as he stared back at Allison.

"What do you mean?" Luther asked.

"I've been in a serious relationship."

"Staying with someone for three months so you have a place to stay doesn't count, Klaus." Five stated.

"Oh, and a mannequin does?" Klaus countered but waved off more protests. "But that's not what I'm talking about anyway. I never told you all about Dave."

"Who's Dave?"

Klaus narrowed his eyes at Diego. "I just said I never told you about him."

Allison placed a hand on Diego's shoulder, calming him down before he starts shouting, and smiled at Klaus. "Would you tell us now?"

Klaus looked at his siblings before sitting up with his legs crossed. "Gather around, poor unfortunate souls. It's time for a little storytelling for this session of Hargreeves Children Support Group. Strap yourselves in for the biggest tragedy of a love story you'll ever hear."

The others sent discreetly exchanged worried looks at the poorly hidden sorrowful tone in Klaus' voice, but they moved closer without a word. Once they were all settled in, Klaus (secretly checked to see if Diego was feeling better and) grinned once more before diving in into the story that only Ben had ever knew.

"I'd title it 'Fuck Wars' or something else when I think of a better one. But it is starring yours truly, and the most wonderful man with the most beautiful baby blue eyes…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed~
> 
> ✓ Also! In case you're doubting, it's really not the Lila they knew. I explained in the first shot in this series that i think there's a possibility Lila would have time travelled back to somehow manipulate things so that she (the her when she was younger) ends up with her original family or the Hargreeves (aka as long as she has an actual family) as she grows up.


	8. 1234(5)57

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "She asked if I could bring food down to you instead."
> 
> "I don't see the food." Luther narrowed his eyes.
> 
> "Yeah, well," Other-Five shrugged, an amused smile playing on his lips. "She asked if I could, and I can. But I didn't really want to, so I won't."
> 
> "Amazing," Klaus breathed out in awe before looking to their own Five. "Same kind of pretentiousness, like what Z said!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ✓ For those who wanted a win for the UA team.  
> ✓ Refresher: In the first fic of this series, I made Five's name 'Daniel' but he prefers being called by the number. For the actual canon, I think I read that Five actually has a name but due to lack of use, they just...forgot...  
> ✓ Forewarning: I realize I'm not particularly talented in imagining and writing fight scenes.

It was the sudden flash of blue appearing in front of the door that had startled Diego more than the actual person that came with it. Unexpected as it was, he recovered quickly when the person on the other side of the door gave a familiar, irritating smirk and a signal to move back. The Umbrella Academy members followed routine as the other (and older-looking) version of Five stepped in the room. 

"Well, there doesn't seem to be a problem here at all." He commented as his leather shoes clicked against the floor while walked around, inspecting the room and its occupants. "I don't know why Rita insists on checking in with you at all times. I bet you could survive without food for a day."

"Is she busy today?" Klaus' question could be taken as a way to gather more information, sure, but his tone was close to whining and there was a pout on his face. Even Luther's gotten good enough at reading his brother's mood to know that he was just genuinely saddened at the lack of Zero's presence and her fun stories.

Other-Five hummed noncommittally. "And she asked if I could bring food down to you instead."

"I don't see the food." Luther narrowed his eyes.

"Yeah, well," Other-Five shrugged, an amused smile playing on his lips. "She asked if I could, and I can. But I didn't really want to, so I won't."

"Amazing," Klaus breathed out in awe before looking to their own Five. "Same kind of pretentiousness, like what Z said!" He whispered loudly to Vanya who was sitting on the ground beside him and also watching everything like it was a show.

Five walked up to his counterpart fearlessly, ignoring his brother's comments. "Then what brought you here? Surely, this isn't you just dropping by to say hello like the others. I can't believe any version of me would be interested in wasting time like that."

Other-Five met his gaze coolly. He was older (in appearance) and inches taller, almost the same height as Diego, so Five had to look up to him. Some people argue that a person's eyes are the only things that never changes through time, and the familiar glint of brown eyes reflecting at each other proved that. "Someone wanted to throw hands. I think that's interesting."

Five was not intimidated by the more mature voice from this familiar face. (He has, after all, seen himself at this age before, albeit a very long time ago.) He wasn't thrown off by the challenging tone or the mocking smile. If anything, he's extremely irritated. "You want to fight me?"

"Would it be considered fighting if you don't even stand a chance?" Other-Five grinned at the obvious anger rising within Five.

"Technically, I'm older than you." Five said through gritted teeth.

The other shrugged, leaning down as if he was mocking Five's height. "But you don't look like it."

"You won't last a minute against me."

"Ooh," Other-Five laughed, "I think you're all words and no talk. Just hit me! Come on, hit me! I even promise not to use my powers in the fight."

A tug at his arm made Five step back as he saw Vanya looking at him unsure. "Five, don't." She whispered desperately. "He's trying to provoke you into doing something. Remember, I told you Z said to keep low?"

"You can't, can you?" Other-Five smirked, his voice never losing it's mocking tone. "What can you even do, really? You've been trapped here for weeks now, and not a single attempt has been close to succeeding. You can't even get passed Z, not that she was ever an easy target in the first place."

Five clenched his fists, pulling away slowly from Vanya, much to her and the rest of the siblings' dismay. "Stop talking. Leave, now."

"Or what?" Other-Five walked closer again, a grin on his face. "What are you gonna do? Hit me?"

So, he did.

Five threw a punch, eliciting a groan from his siblings as they watched him inevitably lose his patience. Other-Five, Daniel or whatever his name was, stumbled back but let out a short laugh before throwing one of his own with a wide grin.

Diego and Luther were the ones who tried to get in between to stop the fight, but with how quickly it escalated (Five suddenly had a solid grasp of Other-Five's hair and was repeatedly driving a kick to his chest, Other Five retaliates by using his surroundings and trying to tackle him to one of the spikes on the wall or smashing Five's body to the door), they weren't exactly sure how to.

Allison watched with a disapproving frown on her face, wincing every time a particularly loud kick or punch was delivered. She went to join Klaus who was shouting commentary ('Go Five from Umbrella Academy! Hit his—yeah, that! Great job!') and Vanya who had resigned herself to rolling her eyes at the fight, mumbling about how useless it is to warn people nowadays.

Five didn't give his all, showing all his cards would be stupid. But he had all the pent-up anger and the frustration of endlessly attempting to escape the apocalypse and then being trapped here, causing him to use tricks he learned from his years in the Commission that he hadn't been able to use for a while. It was different fighting without his powers, but the other kept his word about no powers, so it wasn't bad. 

He saw an opportunity and took it. For a second, Other-Five leaned forward just enough for Five to be able to use his smaller height as an advantage and throw him over his shoulder. There was a loud thump! as the body hit the ground and Five took a few steps back, finally able to catch his breath, his win undeniable as the other remained still.

Other-Five lay there looking up at the ceiling for a moment before pushing himself up while chuckling. "Hmm," he wiped the blood from his split lip as he looked at Five, "I admit, you're pretty good."

"Good enough to let us out?"

"Ha, no."

Well, it was worth a try.

"You wanna see something fun, though?" Other-Five cracked his knuckles as he approached again. Diego and Luther took it as another threat and made a grab at him, but he just teleported to the other side of the room. "Oh, come on. I just said I'll show him something. Did you forget I still have powers?"

He turned to face Five again and put his right hand up, fingers in a position that was definitely about to flick his forehead if he wasn't too far. Other-Five grinned and moved to flick his fingers, which was the start of Five being genuinely confused. Because the exact moment he flicked his fingers, two things happened at rhe same time

1\. Five can swear that the hand disappeared for a second, as if teleporting and reappearing. He's pretty sure he saw the blood and bones like the hand had been cut off. But the rest of the body stayed?  
2\. There was a dull pain at the back of his head. As if someone flicked it. Three guesses on who, hopefully with a get-home-now prize for who gets it on the first try.

Five instinctively reached to the back of his head and looked to see nothing but the spiked wall behind him. He turned again to see Other-Five grinning wildly at his reaction. "What did you just do?"

But Five didn't get to hear him answer because the door groaned open all of a sudden and a familiar voice shouted in the room. 

"DANIEL! FOR FUCKS' SAKE!" Zero shut the door behind her and placed her hands on her hips, looking like a mother scolding a child. "I asked you to bring them food and I find you here, looking like that," she gestured to his bruised and bloodied face, "and your damn counterpart having his own injuries!"

"No food too, if you're interested in all the disappointing details." Klaus enthusiastically added from the side.

Other-Five kept a grin on his face, albeit more friendly and less mocking. It's admirable, honestly, with how irritated Zero seemed to be. "He hit me first, Rita."

She rolled her eyes, sent a look to Vanya who shrugged apologetically, before turning to Five. "Why the hell would you hit him? Don't tell me you actually let him get to you. Are you that easy?"

"You didn't hear what he said." Five stated plainly.

"Oh, yeah?" Zero breathed out sharply. "What did he say?"

"'What are you gonna do? Hit me?' So, I responded appropriately." He shrugged, not really all that interested in keeping this conversation going. If he was being honest, his thought were running like crazy trying to figure out the trick that his doppelganger pulled.

Interestingly enough, Other-Five nodded. "He's right. He has a point. I would've hit me too."

Zero huffed again before walking towards other-Five and pulling him by the wrist. "I can't believe you're such an idiot. Move back, please." She directed the last one to the rest of them, "I'll bring food and the first-aid kit later to help with your own idiot Five."

They moved as per routine under Zero's watchful eye. She seemed to be assessing the injuries she could see on Five before she abruptly turned to other-Five. "Holy shit, did you lose?"

"Ah, that's my cue." And he teleported out of the sight, leaving Zero laughing as she exited through the door without another word.

When both were gone, the Umbrella Academy members all sent a look to Five. "I can't believe you fell for it." Luther muttered, shaking his head. "Actually, I shouldn't be surprised."

"I told you Zero said something about laying low." Vanya insisted. "I know you don't trust her, but I think that's something important."

Only then, in the lack of rebuttals, did they notice that Five' lips were curling up into a grin. The things they just said must not have made it to his brain. This was proven by him breaking off from the group and going back to his usual pacing path.

Five stopped after a while and looked up to his siblings, his mind buzzing with calculation. "If I can somehow figure things out, I think... I think I can find us a way out."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed~
> 
> ✓ Basically, I gave other-Five the power of a 'controlled-Splinch' as inspired by how in Harry Potter, failed apparitions (teleporting) can lead to splinching which is when there are minor injuries or something as big as half of the body being left behind.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed~


End file.
